As Shimon drove his car up the hill, he kept his eye on the temperature gauge. He’d noticed recently that the temperature seemed to rise much faster than in the past. Suddenly, the red light appeared and he was forced to stop. He waited a while until the water cooled down and then drove very slowly straight to his car mechanic, with his eye constantly on the gauge.
It wasn’t his first visit there this month, far from it. This was perhaps his third already. The car was heading for its fifteenth birthday and its age was showing. The problem was compounded by the fact that a lot of elderly and sick people were waiting in their homes for Shimon to pick up their laundry to take to the laundromat where he worked.
But what could he do. He couldn’t continue driving and risk destroying the car’s engine.
The next day he picked up the car, with its new thermostat, and went off to do his laundry pick-ups.
He had tried to contact all his customers, but some were out, others simply never answered the telephone and as he expected some were really upset at his non-appearance the previous day.
Several of his customers were bed bound and had long ago given Shimon a key to their front door so he could let himself in and collect together the laundry from the basket, without having to bother them. Others simply couldn’t be bothered to wait in for him and as they all trusted him his collection of keys was very large. If he knew a person was housebound, he would pop his head around the bedroom door to say hello and exchange a few words, as he got the impression that for many he was the one human being that they saw and spoke to that day, maybe more than a day.
Their living conditions were not very luxurious to put it mildly. Occasionally, Shimon would enquire after their children and grandchildren but for many this was too painful as they had little or no contact with them, so he had learnt over the years who he could ask and who he shouldn’t.
Before Purim he made up some mishloach manot packages for those who seemed the most lonely. They were so grateful to receive his gift he was almost embarrassed and then would desperately search for something to give Shimon in return. He didn’t really want to take anything from their meagre food supply but he realized that it was important for their self-respect to be able to give as well as take.
But today he was eager to get round to everyone as quickly as possible as he had already lost one day and everyone needed their clothes back as soon as possible. Most of his “friends” understood that the delay had been unplanned and unavoidable and just one of those things that sometimes happens.
He arrived at David Chevroni’s house and as usual the door was open and so after knocking and ringing and getting no reply he went straight in. Poor David was an especially sad friend. He was very unresponsive on any day, rarely speaking a single word or making much acknowledgement of Shimon’s presence. However, when Shimon put his head round the door he was surprised not to see him in bed as he was almost every time he came to pick up his laundry.
He never goes out so he’s probably in the bathroom, he reasoned, and being in a hurry he was about to leave. But something made him pop his head round the door once more, and there to his horror he saw David lying on the floor, pinned between his bed and his night-table. Somehow, his mattress had also fallen off the bed and was stuck behind him which was wedging him even more and why Shimon hadn’t seen him at first.